A psychologist warned Pennsylvania State University police in 1998 that Jerry Sandusky was a “likely pedophile” after she treated a young boy who described being hugged by the man now facing this charge in court, MSNBC reported. The psychologist came forward now, with the approval of the boy’s family, amid the debate over Sandusky and whether Penn State did enough to protect children from him. In 1998, the police consulted with another psychologist, who said that there was no evidence of abuse. The new report is significant because it was a detailed complaint, four years before a graduate assistant says he saw Sandusky molesting a boy — an incident that the graduate assistant reported. The psychologist told NBC that she was horrified to find so many other boys had experienced what her patient experienced. “There was very little doubt in my mind (Sandusky) … was a male predator, someone that was in the process of grooming a young man for abuse ,” said the psychologist. “I thought … my report was strong enough to suggest that this was somebody who should be watched.”

“Have you ever heard of insect politics? Neither have I. Insects don’t have politics. They’re very brutal. No compassion. No compromise. We can’t trust the insect. I’d like to become the first insect politician. You see, I’d like to, but, oh, I’m afraid. I’m saying I’m an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over and the insect is awake.” — Seth Brundle, The Fly (1986)

I’m having a hard time keep up with all the allegations of dishonesty.

The North Country Gazette (New York) reoirts this local larccny:

NASSAU COUNTY—An Oceanside woman has been arrested and charged with grand larceny after prosecutors say she stole approximately $5,000 from an elementary school Parent Teacher Association (PTA).

Cindy Sommer-Fleisig, 44, was arrested Thursday morning by DA investigators and charged with third degree grand larceny. She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said that between November 2010 and August 2011, Sommer-Fleisig stole approximately $5,000 from the Oceanside Elementary School #8 PTA, including funds that were intended to be spent towards a retirement party for the outgoing school principal.

Sommer-Fleisig, a member of the PTA who helped handle fundraising and membership services for the organization, also received check reimbursements for items she claimed to have purchased but never did, including New York Knicks tickets, office supplies, and school awards, according to prosecutors.

Update 2: A federal judge has refused to reinstate Reuben Lack as ckass president of Alpharetta High School, finding that Lack was removed for failing to perform his duties. Luck’s lawsuit seeking damages from the Fulton County School System continues. Read more.

Update: In a newer versionof the story, school officials provide more detail on the issue. They’re quite prepared to fight this in the press.

Reuben Lack thinks he was. The school board scoffs at his claim. This isn’t over. It’s just beginning.

From the Associated Press, via the Atlanta Journal-Constiution:

ATLANTA — A suburban Atlanta high school student says in a federal lawsuit that administrators removed him as student body president after he promoted changes aimed at making the prom more inclusive to gay students.

Reuben Lack, an 18-year-old senior at Alpharetta High School, filed the lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court. He’s asking a judge to issue an injunction reinstating him as student body president.

Lack said he introduced a resolution at a January student council meeting to modify the school’s “prom king and queen” tradition to make it more inclusive to gay students. He suggested several options, including changing it to “prom court” so a same-sex couple could be elected, he said in the lawsuit.

Lack says he was told by school officials Feb. 8 that he was immediately removed from his position for “pushing personal projects” and advocating policy changes.

So, are school officials reacting to a “Night of the Living Hug” situation, or are they just being a bunch of old prudes?

From the Associated Press, via the Washington Post:

ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — More than 900 students at a New Jersey middle school have been told no more hugging.

The district says Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School Principal Tyler Blackmore made an announcement that students were in a “no hugging school” following some “incidents of unsuitable, physical interactions.”

“This is a very well-written novel … clearly Mr. Grant has the skill required to … write a good story with a complicated plot and a diverse set of characters. (O)verall I found Brambleman to be an interesting and informative read.” — Jane Linsdell, Lindsay and Jane’s Views and Reviews

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You can download the prologue and Chapter One of Brambleman to read at t you pleasure by clicking here. Enjoy!

BRAMBLEMANA Novel by Jonathan Grant

Down-and-out Atlanta writer Charlie Sherman has no idea what madness awaits him when a mysterious stranger convinces him to finish a dead man’s book about a horrific crime that’s gone unpunished for decades.

What Charlie inherits is an unwieldy manuscript about the mob-driven expulsion of more than 1,000 blacks from Forsyth County, Georgia in 1912. During the course of his work, Charlie uncovers a terrible secret involving a Forsyth County land grab. Due to its proximity to Atlanta, the stolen farm is now worth $20 million—and a sale is pending.

When he finds the land’s rightful owner, Charlie becomes convinced he’s been chosen by a Higher Power to wreak justice and vengeance on those who profit from evil.

And then things go horribly wrong.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Forsyth County, bordering the black mecca of Atlanta (and famous as the birthplace of Hee-Haw’s Junior Samples), has existed as an intentionally all-white community for most of the past century following one of America’s most violent racist outrages—including lynching, nightriding, and arson—in 1912.

In 1987, the sleepy community gained international notoriety when a small march led by civil rights firebrand Hosea Williams was broken up by rock- and bottle-throwing Klansmen, neo-Nazis, and their sympathizers. Bloody but unbowed, Williams returned the next week with 25,000 followers in one of largest civil rights marches in history. There was talk of reparations. Oprah came. Protests and counter-protests yielded a landmark Supreme Court case on free speech. But most importantly, white people flocked to Forsyth. It became the fastest- growing county in the nation, the richest one in Georgia, and one of the twenty wealthiest in the U.S.